Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p.

Gettysburg College
T he Sunder man Conser vator y of Music
M U S _ C L A S 1 4 9 : S o c i a l Fo u n d a t i o n s o f M u s i c E d u c a t i o n
SYLLABUS

Course Professor:
Brent C. Talbot, Ph.D. 917-628-3101 btalbot@gettysburg.edu

Course Peer Learning Associates:

Eric Gabriel 443-299-8643 gabrer01@gettysburg.edu
Bridget Haines 860-581-3402 hainbr02@gettysburg.edu
Logan Shippee 845-407-1706 shiplo01@gettysburg.edu

Course Meeting Times:

Prepare/Practice/Present MW 2:10-3:25PM Schmucker Hall Room 117
Observe 15 HOURS You Schedule with Course Partners

Course Aims:
1. Explore your personal experiences, assumptions, predispositions, beliefs, and identities about
teaching and learning music in America.
2. Become an informed observer of a wide variety of music teaching and learning settings
including: general, instrumental, and choral in elementary, middle, and high schools.
3. Explain and critique methodologies and theories about music teaching and learning.
4. Explore how class, race, gender, sexuality, and ability have operated within the education
system to reinforce hegemony and how educators, with critical minds, have attempted to
disrupt such practices.
5. Explore critical pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy, and progressive education.
6. Prepare, practice, and perform lessons and units around a set of musical objectives, making
sure that lessons and units are culturally relevant and learning abilities and needs of all
students are addressed.
7. Articulate an initial philosophy of music education.
8. Create and develop a teaching portfolio.
9. Engage with research in music teaching and learning.
10. Discuss and demonstrate strategies for classroom management, providing an optimum
environment for learning and doing music that considers the needs of all learners and their
various identity constructions.
11. Discuss and demonstrate skills for assessing, measuring, and evaluating music students on
idiographic and normative levels. Address appropriate accommodations for all types of
learners.
12. Demonstrate competency and fluency with teaching musical concepts.
13. Reflect on yourself and others as teachers.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 2

Questions:
• What are the major models of music education in the past? How were those models
developed and for what purposes? What implications can the implementation of those
models in the past give to music educators today?
• What discourses dominate in the portrayals of school students and teachers in policy,
research and the media?
• How are educational policies in the U.S. linked to the global economy and how does the
translation of those policies in the local context shape the educational experience of teachers
and students in classrooms?
• How can we conceptualize curriculum and school knowledge to better address important
questions of social change, contingency of knowledge, life in mediated worlds, and
inequalities?
• What kinds of inquiry help us in working with young people with diverse backgrounds?
• How should teachers as transformative intellectuals navigate through the current educational
system in the age of accountability to pursue equity among, in, and through education?
• How can we change the models of music education to become more relevant to our
students’ experiences in and out of school?

Required Materials:

Ayers, W. (2010). To teach: The journey, in comics. New York: Teachers College Press.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

Hendricks, K. S. (2018). Compassionate music teaching: A framework for motivation and engagement in the 21st
century. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Jewell, T. (2020). This book is anti-racist. Minneapolis: Frances Lincoln.

Postman, N. (1971). Teaching as a subversive activity. New York: Delta.

Digital video recording device

Two- or three-inch three-ring binder with color-coded organizational tabs.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 3

Course Partners:

GETTYSBURG AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Lincoln Elementary School 98 Lefever St. Gettysburg Grades k-5
Mrs. Woodward 334-6254 ex 7108 lwoodward@gasd-pa.org
Franklin Township Elementary 870 Old Route 30 Cashtown, PA
Mr. Serfass (elementary) 334-6254 bserfass@gasd-pa.org
Gettysburg Area Middle School 37 Lefever Rd Gettysburg Grades 6-8
Mr. Sterner (general/choir) 334-6254 ex 5, 1618 jsterner@gasd-pa.org
Gettysburg Area High School Biglerville Rd. Gettysburg Grades 9-12
Mrs. Bowman (choir) 334-6254 jbowman@gasd-pa.org
Mrs. Kriel (strings) 334-6254 kkriel@gasd-pa.org
Mr. Choplick (band) 334-6254 wchoplick@gasd-pa.org

CONEWAGO VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

New Oxford Middle School 130 Berlin Rd, New Oxford Grades 6-8
Mr. Rohrbaugh (band) 624-6568 rohrbaught@cvcolonials.org
New Oxford High School 130 Berlin Rd, New Oxford Grades 9-12
Mr. Bowman (choir) 253-7203 bowmand@cvcolonials.org
Mr. Campampiano (band) 624-6568 campopianos@cvcolonials.org
Mrs. McDaniel (strings) 624-2157 mcdaniela@cvcolonials.org

UPPER ADAMS SCHOOL DISTRICT

Arendtsville Elementary 136 Fohl St. Arendtsville Grades 4-6
Bendersville Elementary 137 Rampike Hill Rd. Bendersville Grades 4-6
Ms. Gerlitzki 677-3300 a.gerlitzki@upperadams.org
Mr. Schweizer 667-3300 a.schweizer@upperadams.org
Biglerville Middle and High School North Main St, Bigglerville 6-12
Mrs. Kelley (choir/gen) 677-7191 x2111 n.kelley@upperadams.org
Mr. Phillipi (band) 677-7191 x2111 r.phillipi@upperadams.org

BERMUDIAN SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT

Bermudian Springs Elementary 7335 Carlisle Pike York Springs k-5
Mr. Carlson (choir/gen) 528-4113 mcarlson@bermudian.org
Bermudian Springs Middle and High Schools 7335 Carlisle Pike, York Springs Grades 4-12
Mr. Boyce (gen/band) 528-4113 ex 2611 dboyce@bermudian.org
Mr. Carlson (choir/gen) 528-4113 mcarlson@bermudian.org

CHAMBERSBURG AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Chambersburg Area High School 511 South Sixth Street Chambersburg, PA
Mrs. Stahl (choir/gen) 261-3329 stahleli@casdonline.org
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 4

1. PARTICIPATION, PROFESSIONALISM, & ATTENDANCE

You are expected as a participant to help with the development and construction of an active, hands-
on microcosm of a school music classroom. As a pre-service teacher you will prepare, practice, and
perform/teach in class in order to get ready for observing and teaching in partner schools. As
participants you will play the roles of peer, coach, teacher, and student. You are expected to help
construct an atmosphere of mutual respect and encouragement as you not only explore a variety of
teaching methods, but experience, practice, and critically reflect on how these methods cater to your
own future situated classroom settings and inform your own teaching philosophies.

For the duration of this course, you are considered an “apprentice teacher” representing the college
community when you are out in the field or online. Professional conduct and dress are
expected at all times when observing, teaching, and interacting with professionals.
Professional conduct means NO tardiness or unexcused absences in this class or out in the field. It
also means active communication with the professor and professional partners. You must notify the
professor and teacher at least two weeks before any event that may require you to miss a class. You
must notify the professor or teacher prior to the class if you are to be excused for illness. Consider
this your first job. How would you conduct yourself with your employer?

Cell phones must be turned off during class and during field observations. The internet is to ONLY
be used when part of an in-class activity. Email, social networks, and surfing the internet during class
or field observations is prohibited.

It is imperative that you participate fully in all aspects of this course as outlined in this syllabus. If
there are circumstances that may prevent you from full participation, you should speak with the
instructor at the outset of the course.

2. ASSIGNMENTS & READINGS

All written assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the specified date. Due to the
collaborative nature of the course, late work cannot be accepted. Assignments need to be typed and
submitted electronically as a .doc or .docx. All email responses are due before the next class meeting.
Please save your document with your last name MUS149 and the assignment number.
Please put your last name, MUS149, and the assignment number in the subject of
your email (i.e., Talbot – MUS149 – Assignment 1). You will receive an automatic zero
for not doing either of these.

I will lead you in in-class activities designed to prepare you for getting the most out of each assigned
reading from the text. Your responsibility is to build upon that introductory presentation by doing the
reading (and any accompanying listening) from the text, which will further prepare you for more in-
depth activities the following week. Expect pop-quizzes on the readings.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 5

3. GRADING
Your grade comprises the following elements: Assignments = 80%, Course Portfolio = 20%. All
assignments are to be redone and resubmitted if full credit is not given on the first attempt. This
editing process will help you refine your thinking about music education. You will also gain improved
clarity in communicating your ideas and thoughts.

Failure to complete any significant assignment will result in an automatic fail.

Grading Scale
A+ (97.5% or higher)
A (93.5% or higher)
A- (89.5% or higher)
B+ (86.5% or higher)
B (83.5% or higher)
B- (79.5% or higher)
C+ (76.5% or higher)
C (73.5% or higher)
C- (69.5% or higher)
Fail (below 69%)

Special Circumstances:  If you have a learning, sensory, or psychiatric disability, appropriate

accommodations can be made for you in this class. Please contact the professor early in the semester.

Academic Integrity: Based on the belief that dignity of all people and individuals’ intellectual
potential relies on mutual trust as its foundation; Gettysburg College promotes and ensures honesty
and integrity among students. By affirming the Gettysburg College Pledge students assume the
obligation to be honest in their particular relationships with each course instructor and all members
of the College community supporting their education. Students and faculty members are expected to
accept the responsibility for maintaining the conditions for and the fact of that honesty. Please write
out and sign the Gettysburg honor code with each assignment. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and
may result in failure of the course and referral to the honor commission.

Diversity Statement:  Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged 1) to examine and challenge
how perceptions, ideas, and experiences influence conduct and behavior; 2) to increase awareness
about issues of difference based on the intersecting identities of race, ethnicity, class, gender, age,
sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability, and religion; and 3) to make a personal
commitment to understand, respect, value, and appreciate all members of the campus community.

Streaming and Recording of Course Lectures & Discussions: Because of COVID-19, the

College has installed cameras in classrooms to support students participating remotely in classes. We
have made this decision because not every student will be present in the classroom this semester, and
therefore, we think it equally important to advise you that class content, including discussions, may
be streamed and/or recorded during this academic year. If you have questions or concerns, please
discuss this with your course instructor.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 6

Learning and Teaching during a Pandemic

We all have to navigate what is happening across the world as best we can. For those of us who have
decided to be on campus this academic year, that involves additional obligations to keep oneself and
others safe. This means decreasing our risk of exposure to and transmission of the virus that causes
COVID-19. We collectively agree:

• To behave in ways that take care of one another in terms of both physical and emotional health.
• When we come to class, we will come prepared with two masks, the one you will wear when
required and your back-up, and a bottle of hand sanitizer.
• When we meet in the classroom, whether that classroom is inside or outside, we will wear face
masks in compliance with College guidelines. Proper wearing requires covering your mouth and
nose! If one does not come to class with a mask, they will be asked to leave.
• We will sanitize our respective spaces before class begins and at the end of class upon leaving the
classroom.
• We will not bring food or drinks into the classroom.
• During class we will be mindful to maintain at least 6’ of distance, especially during pair or group
presentations and activities. Furthermore, as much as possible, we will teach from behind a
plexiglass barrier.
• All classroom handouts will be distributed electronically. No paper.
• If any of us exhibits symptoms and needs to quarantine/isolate until test results arrive, we will be
able to Zoom into class or view a video of the lectures we have missed. If one cannot attend class,
one must contact the instructor at least an hour prior to class to figure out the next steps.
• Office hours will be conducted via Zoom and be made by appointment. Students may request an
outside stroll safely distanced six feet apart while wearing masks.
• Some lectures and class discussions may be recorded. According to College policies, we are allowed
to view these but cannot share them with others who are not enrolled in the course or on social
media.
• Even with the physical distancing required to be on campus safely, we will create a supportive class
environment.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 7

Relation to Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Music:

Standard 9.1 Production, Performance, and Exhibition of Music

Standard 9.2 Historical and Cultural Contexts
Standard 9.3 Critical Response
Standard 9.4 Aesthetic Response

Relation to Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards:

The course content of this course adheres to the standards and guidelines for professional practice
outlined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and they are guided by the following
principles:

Principle 1 The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structure(s)
of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make
these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
Principle 2 The teacher understands how children learn and develop and can provide
learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal
development.
Principle 3 The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning
and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
Principle 4 The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to
encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem –solving, and
performance skills.
Principle 5 The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and
behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social
interaction, active engagement in learning and self-motivation.
Principle6 The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, non-verbal and media
communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive
interaction in the classroom.
Principle 7 The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter,
students, the community, and curriculum goals.
Principle 8 The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to
evaluate students and ensure the continuous intellectual, and social, and physical
development of the learner.
Principle 9 The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of
his or her choices and actions on other (students, parents, and other professionals in
the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow
professionally.
Principle 10 The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies
in the larger community to support students’ learning and wellbeing.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 8

Relation to the Gettysburg College Curriculum:

Gettysburg College has two hallmarks to the academic curriculum:
1. We ask students to be self-reflective, to write and think in ways that express a growing self-awareness about
the progress and impact of their education
2. We ask students to make connections in what they are learning; to see relevant implications across courses, to
achieve an education that is more than a transcript of self-contained courses.
The curriculum is structured around four key elements:
Multiple Inquiries Gettysburg College students are required to engage in multiple forms of inquiry -- in the
humanities, the arts, the social sciences, and natural sciences -- in a self-conscious and intentional way. We
expect students to learn a variety of approaches, to apply them aptly, and to understand their value and
their limitations.
Integrative Thinking We believe our graduates should know how to integrate what they have learned. It is not
enough to have compartmentalized knowledge. Integrative thinking is required to create solutions, to
develop new ideas, to exert leadership.
Communication Skills Today we are all drowning in information. An effective education must teach students
how to evaluate information, to marshal relevant evidence persuasively, and to communicate effectively in
person, in writing, and in technologically enhanced ways.
Informed Citizenship We want our graduates not only to be at home in the world, but also to be engaged
citizens with a global perspective. Understanding and valuing forms of difference, entering another
worldview through language, study in another land -- these are valuable in shaping a sense of engagement
in the world.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 9

Course Calendar: (subject to change)

Monday 8/17 READ: up to p. 66 in To Teach: The Journey in Comics

DISCUSS: Welcome and Expectations for the Course
QUESTION: What is music? What is a musician? What is education?
What is a learner? What is a teacher? What is music education? How do
we want music education to be?

Wednesday 8/19 Assignment #1 – Reflection Paper Due

READ: finish To Teach: The Journey in Comics;
TBiAR Chapter 1: Who Am I?
WATCH: Convocation Speech: The Power of Narrative
http://www.brentctalbot.com/convocation-speech.html
DISCUSS: Your Life as a Musician - Teacher
QUESTION: Who am I as a musician? Who am I as a learner? Who am
I as a teacher?

Monday 8/24 Assignment #2 – Music Identity Project Due

READ: CMT - Chapter 1: The Nature of Compassion;
TBiAR Chapter 2: What are my Social Identities?
QUESTION: Who are we as musicians? Who are we as learners?
Who are we as teachers?

Wednesday 8/26 READ: PotO — Chapter 1: Justification of a Pedagogy of the Oppressed

DO: Instruct How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich and write a lesson.
DISCUSS: A Pedagogy of the Oppressed
QUESTION: How do we enact a critical pedagogy? How can we
become critical music educators?

Monday 8/31 READ: Hess, J. & Talbot, B.C. (2019). Going for broke: A talk to
music teachers. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education,
18 (1): 89–116. 
TBiAR Chapter 3: What is Race, What is Ethnicity?
GUEST: Juliet Hess from Michigan State University

Wednesday 9/2 Assignment #3.1 – Clearances, Contact, & Begin Fieldwork

READ: CMT - Chapter 2: Models of Compassion;
TBiAR Chapter 4: What is Racism (Personal)?
DISCUSS: Conducting Fieldwork
QUESTION: What can we learn from watching others learn/
teach? How can other processes for learning inform ours?
DO: Mock Observation of 6th Grade General Music
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 10

Monday 9/7 READ: Taylor, D., Talbot, B. C., Holmes, E. J., & Petrie, T. (2020).
Experiences of LGBTQQIAA students in music education
programs across Texas. Journal of Music Teacher Education.
TBiAR Chapter 5: What is Racism (Institutional)?
GUEST: Dr. Don Taylor from the University of North Texas and
Mr. Edward Holmes ’18 from the Waynflete School

Monday 9/14 READ: CMT - Chapter 3: Trust

TBiAR Chapter 7: The History We Carry
GUEST: Dr. Cara Bernard from UCONN
DO: Deconstruct the Process of Introducing a New Vocal Song
DISCUSS: What have you observed in the field?
QUESTION: How does trust relate to what you have observed? How
does the environment impact trust?

Wednesday 9/16 Assignment #4.1 – Rhythmic Activity Due

READ: TaSA — Chapter 1: Crap Detecting
TBiAR Chapter 6: Prejudice is Personal
DO: Teach Rhythmic Lessons
DISCUSS: Systems of Learning Music & National Standard
QUESTION: How do we learn music? What are ways in which we learn
music? What are best practices for transmitting knowledge? How do we
consider and respond to learning styles different from our own?

Monday 9/21 READ: TaSA — Chapter 2: The Medium is the Message, Of Course
TBiAR Chapter 8: Knowing Our History
DO: Movement in Music
QUESTION: What media do we use to transmit music?

Wednesday 9/23 Assignment #3.2 – 5 Observation Hours Due

READ TBiAR Chapter 10-14: Disrupt!, Take Action!, Interrupt!,
Solidarity, Calling In and Calling Out.
DO: Orientation to the Library — Meet in Musselman 014
QUESTION: What are the differences between research-based,
theoretically-based, philosophically-based, and practitioner-oriented
articles?

Monday 9/28 READ: CMT - Chapter 4: Empathy
TBiAR Chapter 9: We Are Our History
GUEST: Ms. Kelly Reyman ’18 from Frederick County Public Schools
QUESTIONS: How and in what ways can you develop empathy with/
for students, colleagues, and others in your life? What role does empathy
play in creating a rich musical learning environment?
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 11

Wednesday 9/30 Assignment #5 – Research From The Field Due

Assignment #4.2 – Introduce a New Vocal Song Lesson Due
READ: CMT - Chapter 5: Patience
TBiAR Chapter 15: Spending That Privilege
DO: Teach a New Vocal Song
DISCUSS: Theories of Musical Thinking and Doing
QUESTION: How and in what ways can you utilize cognitive and
affective empathy to motivate and engage students, and to improve
instruction?

Monday 10/5 READ: Reynolds, A. & Talbot, B.C. (2016). Extending invitations,
becoming messmates. PMEA News. Fall issue.
TBiAR Chapter 17: Building Relationships
GUEST: Dr. Alison Reynolds from Temple University
QUESTION: What is a messmate? How can music teachers engage
in advocacy to name and decode how power and knowledge
operates within systems of oppression?

Wednesday 10/7 READ: CMT - Chapter 6: Inclusion

TBiAR Chapter 16: Allyship
DISCUSS: Inclusion
DO: Demonstration of how to use movement to create a focused
listening activity
QUESTION: What is inclusion? What is marginalization and
privilege? What pedagogical practices have you simply taken for
granted that might actually privilege you or some of your peers?

Monday 10/12 Assignment #4.3 – Movement / Listening Lesson Due
READ: PotO — Chapter 2: The Banking Concept of Education as
an Instrument of Oppression
DO: Teach a focused listening lesson.
DISCUSS: The Banking Concept of Education
QUESTION: How does the banking concept of education operate
in settings for music learning and teaching?

Wednesday 10/14 READ: CMT - Chapter 7: Community

DO: Consider how to teach the history and culture of a piece.
QUESTIONS: What are the ethical considerations of using music
from outside your own culture? What are some ways you can
change the structure of learning to cultivate a greater sense of
community in the classroom? How might you practice hospitality
with those beyond your classroom or studio whom you have
previously not reached musically?
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 12

Monday 10/19 Assignment #3.3 – 10 Observation Hours Due

READ: CMT - Chapter 8: Authentic Connection
GUEST: Dr. Karin Hendricks from Boston University
QUESTION: In what ways have you felt an authentic connection to
others while making music? What are ways you might reach beyond
your present musical and/or pedagogical comfort level, to connect
more authentically with others when you perform and/or teach?

Wednesday 10/21 Assignment #4.4 – History & Culture Lesson Due

READ & Discuss: TaSA — Chapters 3, 4, & 5
DO: Teach the historical and cultural context of a musical piece.
QUESTION: How does the banking concept inform and/or
conflict with the inquiry method? What is relevant? How does
relevancy impact classroom management and motivation? What’s
worth knowing?

Monday 10/26 READ: TaSA — Chapter 6: Meaning Making

GUEST: Dr. Stephen Paparo from UMASS Amherst
QUESTION: How do we create meaning? How can we
conceptualize the mind as a verb and not a noun? How does that
change our roles as teachers?
DO: Consider ways to teach arranging, composing, and
improvising.

Wednesday 10/28 READ: TBiAR Chapters 18-20: Love Yourself, How We Grow, Freedom
GUEST: Dr. McKinley Melton from Gettysburg College
DISCUSS: How to be an anti-racist
PLAN: Final projects

Monday 11/2 READ: Talbot, B. C. & Williams, H. M. A. (2019). Critically

assessing forms of resistance in music education. In Oxford Handbook
of Philosophical & Qualitative Perspectives on Assessment in Music Education.
GUEST: Dr. Hakim Williams from Gettysburg College
QUESTION: What is resistance? How do we critically assess
resistance in music?

Wednesday 11/4 DO: Conceptualize a unit plan around the song Kookaburra.
QUESTION: How can you expand a lesson plan into a larger unit
plan? How can we be creative in our work?

Monday 11/9 Assignment #4.5 – Creative Musicianship Lesson Due

READ: TaSA — Chapters 7: Languaging
DO: Teach a lesson where the focus is on arranging, composing, or
improvising
QUESTION: How does understanding classroom and education
discourse inform our work as teachers?


 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 13

Wednesday 11/11 Assignment #6 – Philosophy Statement Due

READ: TaSA — Chapter 8: New Teacher
QUESTION: How can we live our philosophy; how do we put
it into action?
DO: Present and edit each other’s philosophy statements.

Monday 11/16 Assignment #8 – Final Presentations

DO: Present your final to the class

Wednesday 11/18 Assignment #8 – Final Presentations

DO: Present your final to the class

Monday 11/30 Assignment #7 – Unit Plan Due

DO: Present your unit plan
QUESTION: How does writing a unit plan change our thinking about
planning for musical learning?

Wednesday 12/2 Assignment #3.4 – 15 Observation Hours Due

DO: Present your final to the class. End-of-semester wrap-up. Write
course evaluations.
QUESTION: What did you learn this semester? How will you carry
this knew knowledge forward with you as a musical learner-teacher?

Monday 12/14 Assignment #9 – Course Portfolio Due by 5PM.

Do: Hand in your course portfolio, include extra copies of
observation tracking sheets.
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 14

Course Assignments:

Assignment #1: Reflection Paper

Think about one of your strongest memories from your own personal experience as a K-12 music
student. Write a one- or two-page, typed, double-spaced paper in which you describe this memory,
and tell why you think this memory has stuck with you.

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principle 9

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Assignment #2: Music Identity Project

Create a top ten list. Pick one song from your top ten list that best represents you as an individual.
Create a presentation using slides prezi that includes the top ten list you created, a brief analysis of
the one song (formal as well as conceptual/interpretive), and an explanation as to how you relate to
this song and how it represents your identities. Record yourself narrating and presenting this prezi
and upload it to YouTube. Presentations cannot exceed 10 mins. Share with your classmates.

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Assignment #3: Field Work

Learning what to observe, how to document what you see, and how to employ professional
vocabulary and standard observation protocols are important goals for the course. 15 hours of early
field experience are required in this class, as part of the total hours you must document before
student teaching.

Before the end of the semester you will need to observe an orchestra, band, chorus, and general
music class at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

During each observation fill-out the “observation checkbox form” (available on the music education
moodle page) to help guide you through your observation.

After each observation use the “observation checkbox form” (available on the music education
moodle page) and write a two-page, typed reflection on each of your field teaching experiences.

Answer the following guiding questions during your visits:

1. What did the physical classroom look like?
2. What was the general feel and atmosphere of the classroom experience?
3. What were the teacher’s objectives for the lesson?
4. What type of activities did the teacher and students do during the lesson?
5. What classroom management techniques did the teacher use?
6. What methodology did the teacher use?
7. What resources and materials did the teacher use during the class?
8. How did the teacher evaluate and measure student achievement?
9. What national standards were addressed during the lesson?
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 15

YOU MUST COMPLETE & SUBMIT Five Hours by Sept 23; Ten by Oct 19; & Fifteen by Nov 18

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Assignment #4: Microteach

A “microteach” is a way to practice, in a non-threatening environment, certain music teacher skills
that need to be routinized and made very smooth. If you can do a few things very well, then more of
your attention can be freed up to notice more things around the classroom and make professional
teaching judgments and choices. (You won’t be quite so busy thinking about yourself and trying to
remember the next step in your lesson!) Microteaches will be practiced in class with your peers. We
will follow a cycle of “deliberate practice,” meaning that after you perform your microteach for a
small group of classmates, they will give you feedback, and you will immediately try your lesson
again. The goal is to become very comfortable by the end of the semester in your ability to:

1. lead a rhythmic activity (without speaking)

2. teach a new song by rote using your voice (but do it without speaking)
3. teach a musical concept through movement or facilitate a focused listening activity
4. facilitate a lesson involving arranging, improvisation, and/or composition
5. teach a lesson that uses music to understand a particular historical/cultural moment

Each microteach lesson must be written out. At least two lessons must utilize non-Western materials.
All of your lessons will need to be photocopied for distribution to the whole class.

After each microteach you will email Dr. Talbot responses to these prompts:
My microteaching experiences thus far have been…
I want to continue to practice…
I feel comfortable with…
I think my skills are…
I think my classmates’ skills are…

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 16

Assignment #5: Research from the Field

Read and report out on one journal article. This article must be on some aspect of teaching and
learning music. The article must be a “research-based” article from one of the following journals,
which are all available through our library:

• Action, Criticism, & Theory for Music Education

• The Bulletin for the Council on Research in Music Education
• The Journal of Research in Music Education
• Music Educators Journal
• Music Education Research
• Research Studies in Music Education
• Visions of Research in Music Education
• Journal of Music Teacher Education
• International Journal of Music Education
• International Journal of Community Music
• Journal of Popular Music Education
• Teaching Music
• The Orff Echo
• Kodály Envoy
• American Suzuki Journal
• General Music Today (online for NAfME members)

Email me an APA citation.

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.2, 9.3

Assignment #6: Philosophy Statement

Write a one page philosophy statement. Answer these questions:
1. What is music?
2. What is learning?
3. What is teaching?
4. What is the best way to learn music?
5. What is the best way to teach music?
6. What is the one thing you want your students to come away with when they leave your class?
7. How do you know they know the material?

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4
 Talbot - MUS_CLAS 149, Fall 2020 p. 17

Assignment #7: Unit Planning

Create a three-week cycle of music lesson plans for the grade of your choice (six, thirty-minute
sessions). Begin with the end in mind. What will you want the students to know and be able to do at
the end of these three weeks? How will they show you they know it? What will you do if they don’t
know it? Bring to discuss in class.

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Assignment #8: Final Presentation

Develop a strong thesis statement and use the four course books to support your research. The major
purpose of this assignment is to synthesize the knowledge of various philosophies and approaches to
teaching and learning music covered in this course. Reflect and draw upon insights gained from your
field observations. Address one of the following main questions from this course in a creative way:
• What are the major models of music education in the past? How were those models developed and
for what purposes? What implications can the implementation of those models in the past give to
music educators today?
• How are educational policies in the U.S. linked to the global economy and how does the translation
of those policies in the local context shape the educational experience of teachers and students in
classrooms?
• How can we conceptualize curriculum and school knowledge to better address important questions
of social change, contingency of knowledge, life in mediated worlds, and inequalities?
• How should teachers as transformative intellectuals navigate through the current educational
system in the age of accountability to pursue equity among in and through education?

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Assignment #9: Course Portfolio

At the end of the semester you will hand in your course portfolio, which will include everything you
have done this semester. Include: your reflection papers, observation reports, research and
methodology papers, microteaches, class handouts, etc. Organization matters, so think about how
you want to construct this portfolio from the very beginning of the semester. This should be a
resource that you use for the rest of your teaching career. How will you want to access and use this
information in 5, 10, 25 years?

Gettysburg College Curriculum Standards: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Communication Skills,
Informed Citizenship

Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards: Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Music: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4